Some time when I was in high school, I noticed that all the car ads featured glowing references from JD Power & Associates. The thing was that all these ads were for cars I knew to be terrible, and yet all of them seemed to be the best in their class. The only way I could figure it was that good ol' JD made up some awfully small classes. "Mid-sized sedan, bumper falls off in first week of ownership" class for example. And yet, JD Powers rolls on, these 35 years and more later.
In the interim, an outfit popped up called Consumers Digest. The Wikipedia entry (which Wikipedia editors note sounds like an advertisement) claims they've been around since 1960, and maybe they have. However, the much better known Consumer Reports had attained much greater visibility with its "Best Buys," but refused to advertise or accept advertising. Suddenly, Consumers Digest shows up in almost every ad on TV (but especially for cars) with their "Best Buys." Hmmm. Lately, I'm not hearing so much about Consumers Digest in ads. I don't know if they've given up or if my much-curtailed TV viewing just means I'm missing the ads. Or maybe they were bought out by JD Powers.
Hey, look! A link! It wasn't my imagination: http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2010/05/the-truth-about-consumers-digest/
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